Fashion & Homeware News South Africa

#adidasxIvyPark launch gets SA social media abuzz

18 January saw the relaunch of Beyoncé's athleisure brand Ivy Park, in collaboration with Adidas, to the delight of the singer's loyal fanbase commonly referred to as the 'Beyhive'.
#adidasxIvyPark launch gets SA social media abuzz

According to global media intelligence company Meltwater, which tracked social media sentiment around the launch, more than 15,000 social media mentions occurred across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook this month. While this was a global launch, South Africa was the country with the second-most social media mentions about ‘#adidasxIvyPark’.

Beyonce first announced a collaboration with Adidas in April 2019 and now, just under a year later, the collection has come to life.

On 9 and 10 January, Beyonce shared teaser images and videos of the anticipated collection on social media, generating buzz on the internet. On 9 January, 143 million people viewed these teasers, while 225 million did on 10 January.

Social reach vs social volume globally for #adidasxIvyPark
Social reach vs social volume globally for #adidasxIvyPark

As celebrities began to share their unboxings from the #adidasxIvyPark collection the following week, the internet was again sent into a frenzy when the likes of Yara Shahidi, Laverne Cox and Reese Witherspoon opened up large press drops containing the entire collection.

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Thank you, @Beyonce for the #IvyPark swag!

A post shared by Reese Witherspoon (@reesewitherspoon) on

Finally, on the day of the launch, more than 15,000 social media mentions referred to ‘#adidasxIvyPark’ worldwide, with Beyonce sharing a 5 minute video of her modelling every clothing item in her collection on her Instagram Stories.
Fans seemingly couldn’t wait to get their hands on #adidasxIvyPark items, as once made available, the collection sold out in a matter of hours.

While the USA topped social media conversations (20.92%), South Africa was in second place (7.21%) as the country to mention the hashtag the most on social media, following an in-store launch that took place at the Adidas Originals store in Sandton, Johannesburg.

Global heat map on #adidasxIvyPark
Global heat map on #adidasxIvyPark

According to Meltwater, 1,985 social media posts mentioned the hashtag in South Africa, with a tweet from local artist, Busiswa Gqulu, garnering thousands of likes for the Beyonce-inspired images she shared.

As the country with the second-most mentions of #adidasxIvyPark on social media, it comes as little surprise that the collection sold out within a day on shop.adidas.co.za.
Trending themes around ‘#adidasxIvyPark’ in South Africa include ‘Queue at adidas Originals store’ which refers to the line of customers waiting to purchase items at the Adidas store in Sandton, and ‘Ivy Park drop’ which refers to this particular store being the only physical store to participate in the global launch of ‘#adidasxIvyPark’.
Trending themes for #adidasxIvyPark in South Africa
Trending themes for #adidasxIvyPark in South Africa
Much like the rest of the Beyhive globally, South Africans shared their feelings on ‘#adidasxIvyPark’ on social media, with 90% of mentions being positive on the day of the launch.
Sentiment analysis in numbers for #adidasxIvyPark in South Africa.
Sentiment analysis in numbers for #adidasxIvyPark in South Africa.
"From wanting every piece of the collection, to adding some South African humour to the day, the data shows that South Africans felt the exciting sting of Queen Bey and her #adidasxIvyPark collection, just like the rest of the world did," says Meltwater in a press release.
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